The Dead Linger

The Dead Linger is a canceled sandbox zombie video game developed by Sandswept Studios.^[1] As of November 2012, players could purchase the PC alpha version.^[2]

Setting

The Dead Linger is set in a short time after the Zombie Apocalypse begins. The player is tasked with the simple necessities of searching for supplies, such as food and water. It's a procedurally-generated world of 360 square kilometers, containing permanently placed roads, trees, and landscapes with randomly placed houses and items. Every building throughout the world is completely enterable and explorable to the player, ranging from suburbs, towns, cities and even prisons.

In Build 007, titled, "The Prison," prisons can occasionally be generated into the world.

Development

The Dead Linger was announced in late 2011. The official alpha Build 1 was released on October 31, 2012. The game, as told by the developers, is set to be more of a realistic setting of the zombie apocalypse than other titles at the time. The game was originally being developed using the Ogre3D Engine, but was replaced with the Unity Engine for Build 10, released in September 2013, and later underwent a second engine change to Unreal Engine 4. As of the switch to Unreal Engine 4, the in-game play area was no longer be procedurally-generated, but rather be set in a static environment with future plans for randomized regions and events.

Between July and November, the Unreal Engine 4 build was developed and released. The first build released was not accessible by regular game keys, but this was quickly fixed once the issue was uncovered.

On November 12, 2015, Geoff and Richard Keene jointly posted "The Final Word", citing an inability to continue financing the game's development. Development of The Dead Linger was halted at this time.

Gameplay

Gameplay in The Dead Linger is similar to many other survival games (don't die), but unlike many other "zombie" survival games such as DayZ Standalone, the main threat is intended to actually be the zombies and not other players. PvP gameplay is allowed, but discouraged among the community and development team. Instead the game focuses on actually surviving against the zombies, the elements, and yourself.

Currently, the zombies in The Dead Linger are of a small variety. The zombies at the moment consist of a normal walking zombie, a fat postal worker zombie nicknamed "Bob," and a zombie dog. Future builds would've present new character models for both players, zombies, and NPCs. Some of these NPCs include military soldiers called "Sirens of the Apocalypse" that were sent in as riot control when the infection first started, sniper teams that are a special branch of this group, crazed survivors, sane survivors, NPC driven riot tanks known as "Sirens", various wildlife such as deer, rabbit (both in game currently), boar, aligator, birds, etc.

Mechanics

The Dead Linger features many gameplay mechanics. Some of the more notable (or unique) mechanics include: free-form barricading, a fully explorable world not limited by invisible walls, loading screens, or impassible obstacles, and modular housing and zombies.

Along with this include mechanics common to FPS and survival games, including melee and ranged weapon mechanics like hitting and shooting, running, jumping, (soon) swimming, hunting and skinning animals, etc.

By full release, the game would have supported multiple vehicles ranging from small boats to motorcycles to airplanes, free-form welding, various unique types of non-special infected, mine shafts, interstate systems, a "treasured items" system, full crafting and cooking system, complete character customization, and more. Some of the more desirable features that would have been included by release include: a sanity and hallucination system, a free-form driving system (one must open the door manually, enter, start the car, repair the car, etc.) and a full seasonal system including weather.

Reception

The Dead Linger received mixed reactions from the general public. Of all users who have provided a rating or review of the game on Steam (1943 as of 18 October 2015), only 43% of these ratings are positive.^[3] The most common complaint was a perceived lack of progress being made on the game and multiple engine changes throughout the course of development.

Unable to continue financing the project, Sandswept ended all development of The Dead Linger on November 12, 2015. Sandswept labeled the game indefinitely postponed with future development unlikely, and the game was removed from sale on Steam shortly thereafter.^[4]

Notes